High gas prices = 12,000 fewer car deaths

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 11 (UPI) -- If gas remains at $4 agallon or higher for a year or more, annual U.S. traffic deathscould drop by about one-third, or 12,000 people, researchers said.

Study co-authors Michael Morrisey, director of University ofAlabama at Birmingham's Lister Hill Center for Health Policy, andDavid Grabowski of Harvard Medical School said that higher gasolineprices do come with a plus side -- deaths from traffic accidentsdrop significantly as people slow down and drive less.

If gas remains at $4 a gallon or higher for a year or more,traffic deaths could drop by more than 1,000 per month nationwide,the researchers said.

"It is remarkable to think that a percent change in gasprices can equal lives saved, which is what our data show," Morriseysaid in a statement. "For every 10 percent rise in gas prices,fatalities are reduced by 2.3 percent. The effects are even moredramatic for teen drivers."

The research included death rates and gas price changes from1985 through 2006, and the calculated percent reduction infatalities can be extrapolated to 2008 and beyond, Morrisey said.

In 2006, there were 42,642 total U.S. traffic deaths from38,588 fatal crashes. the Fatality Analysis Reporting Systemreported.